In Pictures: Seven fun cars that still have stick shifts

Fiat 500

2013 Fiat 500 Sport Turbo

Price: $20,995

Engine: 1.4-litre, four-cylinder, turbocharged

Horsepower/torque: 135 hp/150 lb-ft

Manual gearbox: Five-speed

Little, nimble, delightful. I suppose this version of the 500 would benefit from a six-speed manual, but not too much is lost here with the five-speed. That’s because the car weights just 1,124 kilograms. Two hefty football linemen should be able to pick it up, in fact. It’s fun to run up and down the ratios, keeping the engine at the proper rev number.

Fiat 500

2013 Fiat 500 Sport Turbo

Honda Civic Si

2013 Honda Civic Si coupe

Price: $26,245

Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder

Horsepower/torque: 201/170 lb-ft

Manual gearbox: six-speed

The most entertaining of Civics is quite an amusing little package. I’ve always felt that Honda’s manual gearboxes are superior to the automatics and here this is certainly the case. I would much prefer a Si manual to an automatic Civic of any stripe. The shifts come seamlessly and the clutch feel is ideal. Honda dresses up the Si with some sporty design features, too.

Honda Civic Si

2013 Honda Civic Si coupe

Ford Focus ST

2013 Ford Focus ST

Price: $29,999

Engine: 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbocharged

Horsepower/torque: 252 hp/270 lb-ft

Manual gearbox: six-speed

The ST is the Focus for those who want a very serious hatchback. The gearbox is a little tighter than some comparable cars, but a very solid and very precise performer. Shifts just take a tad more effort than with the Golf R, for instance. But this Focus is much less expensive. And it’s a monster performer.

Ford Focus ST

2013 Ford Focus ST

Mazda3

2014 Mazda3 GT Sport five-door

Price: Not available

Engine: 2.5-litre, four-cylinder

Horsepower/torque: 184 hp/185 lb-ft

Manual gearbox: six-speed

If you want a compact hatchback with a manual gearbox, you must test drive the all-new Mazda3 with its delicious six-speed. You can almost change gears with nothing more than a flick of your finger, the action is so smooth. The throws are terrifically short, too. And the SkyActiv-G four-banger puts a healthy 184 horses on top. Wonderful, wonderful car.

Mazda3

2014 Mazda3 GT Sport five-door

VW Golf R

2013 Volkswagen Golf R

Price: $39,675

Engine: 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbocharged

Horsepower/torque: 256 hp/243 lb-ft

Manual gearbox: Six-speed

Here we have the ultimate Golf. Powerful and planted, thanks to all-wheel drive, which is standard, the Golf R is a sports car disguised as a very practical four-door hatchback, My most enjoyable drive in this one came in Germany. I spend two days playing on a mixture of back-country roads and high-speed autobahns. I never tired of the gearbox, which goes from ratio to ratio with almost no effort at all.

VW Golf R

2013 Volkswagen Golf R

Ford Shelby

2013 Ford Shelby GT500 coupe

Price: $61,699

Engine: 5.8-litre V-8

Horsepower/torque: 662 hp/631 lb-ft

Manual gearbox: Six-speed

This version of Ford’s venerable Mustang is just so wonderfully over the top. You want a muscle car? Here it is. The story here isn’t only about horsepower and torque and the ear-busting growl that comes when you goose the throttle. What is so amazing is how driver-friendly this coupe is in the hands of anyone, not just a muscle car nutcase. Remember, the Tremec six-speed must handle an astonishing amount of torque and here it does with ease.

Ford Shelby

2013 Ford Shelby GT500 coupe

Audi TT

2013 Audi TT RS 2.5T Premium Quattro coupe

Price: $67,600

Engine: 2.5-litre, five-cylinder, turbocharged

Horsepower/torque: 360 hp/343 lb-ft

Manual gearbox: Six-speed

This little rocket is immensely fun to drive for a long list of reasons, not least of which is the manual gearbox. This is a very tidy little unit, made for snappy gear changes made lightning fast. The car itself sits low to the ground. The power is tremendous and, if you’re not careful, almost overwhelming. A true high-performance sports car, one made entertaining by the fact you can box the gears around with aplomb.